Secretaries in a huddle to prepare five-year roadmap of next govt

Full-year Union Budget to lay out Viksit Bharat vision

Top-level meetings of key government departments are in full swing to prepare a five-year road map in line with the Viksit Bharat vision for a developed India by 2047, a person aware of the matter told Business Standard.    

A review meeting, where secretaries of all important ministries and departments are expected to be present, has been scheduled for May 1. The first draft of the five-year plan could possibly come up for discussion at the meeting. Agriculture, education, skilled employment, infrastructure, trade, tourism, green economy and startups are among the areas on the agenda, the source said. The first meeting of secretaries, led by Cabinet Secretary Rajiv Gauba, began sometime in March on this.
 

The full-year Union Budget for FY25, expected to be presented by the next government in June-July, is likely to see a paradigm shift and initiate the initial steps for achieving the Viksit Bharat vision, the person quoted above said.

Apart from the Union Budget, if the Bharatiya Janata Party, which is running the government, wins the Lok Sabha elections for the third consecutive time, the first 100 days’ plan will be based on the five-year plan, the person said.
 

“Government departments have been tasked with identifying major goals, which will include annual targets from the 

financial year 2024-25 to 2028-29. Ministries and government departments have also been consulting industry as well,” the person added.

Various departments are devising action plans to ensure meeting the targets that will be set. The targets are in sync with the government’s think tank NITI Aayog’s ‘Viksit Bharat @2047’ vision document, a long-term strategy aiming to make India a developed economy of $30 trillion in 23 years from now.

The vision hinges on the expectation that India will be able to deal with most of its post-independence problems over the next two years. As a result, there is a need to transcend a different set of challenges. To achieve this, the government has 27 themes, including macroeconomic strategy, quality and affordable health and wellness for all, education and skilling for the future, women-led development, industries of the future, trade integrating with the world, balanced regional development, a startup ecosystem for the world, critical resources such as energy, minerals and water, agriculture and rural economy, etc.